I am finally leaving Palm OS for iPod touch after years.

[alsa]

I have had several Palm based devices (Palm, Clies) and the annoucement of the non-phone iPhone iPod is enough to convince me to get the 16 gig iPod Touch for $399. The ONLY thing I will miss will be dictionaries, but I am sure those will be available eventually for iPod touch

[HzR]

So you use your Palm only for music, video's and surfing the web then? :confused:
I love the look of the new iPod/iPhone, but it's missing a lot of essential stuff I use on my Tx every day, decent calendar, note taking, RSS, ebooks, games etc. I think you can only do a lot of those things on the iPod when you're near a wifi access point.

I'm still a bit clueless how Apple can sell an iPhone without the phone bit and without a contract for half the price???? If I'd bought an iPhone 3 months ago I'd really feel stuffed!

[intellidryad]

If you won't miss your alarm clock, that speaker that plays music out loud, contacts list, and all the 3rd party applications, have fun then.

[harpgliss]

Hi,

Alsa, good luck with the new device.

Please stop by and share your impressions please.

Boy, when someone says they are moving on to another format, people get rather nasty.

People move on and needs change, no need to take a shot at the choice a person makes.

There is no reason for this as it is that individuals needs that need to be met.

Palm works for some and some have moved on, wish them luck but leave the cheap shots out of it.

David

[HzR]

I didn't mean to be harsh or keep anybody from switching platforms, it's a free world! (at least, where I live...)

I just think he might be dissapointed when he sells his Palm, gets the new device and finds out it can't do a lot of things a Palm can do. This is of course based on what I've read so far, and I don't know how he uses the device. Apple might release extra software in the future to make things better. Just look into what you need and what you get.

I was very eager to see the new iPod, and it looks great. If it could automatically check and download podcasts directly through wifi I would be really interested in buying one. I would just use it as a media player though. My Tx does all this but storage is limited. The new iPod doesn't seem to support it though, bummer. :rolleyes:

[fluffy]

Good luck, and please report back about your experience. If no TX2 announced soon (4 month tops), I'm going down the same road.

[LupeValenz]

I won't be leaving Palm OS but I am definitely getting this! I been wanting to get an iPod for my podcasts I like to listen to but now I'll hold out for this, thank goodness I didn't get the iPhone right away :D

[timepilot84]

If only the iPod Touch had Bluetooth (for tethering) and an SDK that was available, I'd be all over it. For now, I'm sticking with the Nokia N800.

The Touch is a lot more palatable than the iPhone, though.

[JAmerican]

LOL Apple copied HTC Touch name. W/e. Still not enough for me to switch. Its needs a real keyboard and open OS.

Apple's ad should say they reinvented the PDA (even though they originally didn't want to). LOL

JAmerican

[ssulux]

i think ipod touch is a suitable pda for most ordinary people since it has calendar, address (and also calculator) plus web browsing (better than our palm browsers?) + multimedia (music, photo and video) + youtube.

so maybe the current power user of palm will miss all the 3rd party apps which is not available in ipod / iphone yet. but i bet that the ipod/iphone has an enormous potential if developers expand their apps (mostly from palm & winmob to osx of ipod) or even jump ship to the new platform.

i am not an engineer or software developer at all, but (correct me if i'm wrong) i think the ipod/iphone's hardware quite support any future apps since it could play movie smoothly (unlike foleo which can't even play video and youtube). so i feel that the critical factors of a new device is all there. now it depends on how many developers want to explore and how open apple re the os.

since i felt that palm died long time ago (actually since sony quit the pda biz) and i never could love winmob device (i still use palm tx) thus the only hope for pda/smartphone device is from apple.

anyway, i use mac then it would be better for me to use pda/smartphone from apple since it will be on 1 great platform. at least less headache in sync and other issue might occur because of palm never really updates its rusty os and desktop apps.

but i still don't know whether we can input the calendar and contact directly in the ipod or we will need to do all things in computer then sync it to the ipod?

[archangel]

The touch is only interesting if they open up the platform to third party apps.

The $200 price drop on the iphone had to be a kick in the gut to Palm. Good luck selling those Treos.

[JAmerican]

That's what I was thinking. Palm Is DOOMED!

[intellidryad]

I apologize if I sound harsh in my previous post. I post what I think at the moment, as I am kind of disapointed at Apple for leaving a nice product highly restrected. Yet I have no hard feelings for alsa.

Again, if you could cope with the restrections, hope you do have fun :)

[MleB]

As briefly mentioned above, The Stevo is not encouraging any 3rd party software for the iPhone / Touch - so if it doesn't have it (and its not out there as a web-based op) you're screwed.

Meanwhile, if you're a WinOS user, its onboard PIM functions rely on you using Outlook to sync (and frankly, I'd rather have an open running sore than use that bloated and inefficient program), as Apple has yet to come up with its own 'Desktop' for their iPhone / Touch / iPods. Essentially you're buying a 'cool' WinMob device, but without a catalog of software that they can use...

Touch is really meant to be a way to bypass the need to have a computer to download (that is, buy) from iTunes. That's it.
Still, The Stevo must be thrilled - now he can axe Apple's entire home consumer line of Apple computers (and all that expensive Support staff, unnecessary sales and Genii in Apple Stores and get rid of the 'Hello, I'm a a Mac' TV ads) and just cater to the Pro business users who will pay for Support. Everyone else? Get a Touch.

Visually, the Touch is stunning, but its hobbled - the TX a far better all-in-one device - though I can certainly understand your frustration over Palm products....

[harpgliss]

Hi,

HP 210 (http://www.brighthand.com/default.asp?newsID=13316&review=HP+iPAQ+210+Enterprise+Handheld)

This is my next toy.

Very classy looks, much like the TH55, and some power under the hood.

David

[BrentDC]

OMG, that device is sweet! But $450 :eek: is out of my price range :(

[LupeValenz]

Looks nice, but just tooooo fat it seems >.< Glad to see there are still some PdA's being built.

[ssulux]

hp210 is a nice one if it really comes with at least 8gb memory since it will be tag on the 450 high price tag with no phone function, an aging processor, a mature vga screen.

but again, winmob is not for me.
tried them many times but simply could not love them.
eventhough, i admit that fujitsu pocketloox 720 and dell axim v51 are all round great devices. just like the nx80, ux50, th55 and tx in the palm camp.

[rldunn]

If you won't miss your alarm clock, that speaker that plays music out loud, contacts list, and all the 3rd party applications, have fun then.I've had the iPhone since the first day it was available, replacing my TH55 that I'd had for 3 years after being with Palm OS for 7 years. The iPhone (and the iPod touch) has a decent alarm clock that I've used on a daily basis, a speaker to play music, and a very nice contacts app. You're right about the 3rd party apps - some of those have been covered by the Web 2.0 apps available through mobile Safari, but you would need the Wifi connection on the Touch to access them.

Since the iPhone has been my exclusive PDA for 10 weeks now, I have a pretty good feel for what I miss. The calendar app is decent on the iPhone, but not nearly as good as DB5. It's probably better than the built-in Palm calendar by a little, but DB5 really spoiled me. The iPhone calendar works, but I definitely miss the extra functionality in DB5. Here's where the lack of cut and paste is most noticeable as well.

Since I'm in a math-heavy field, I also miss the calculator I had on the Palm, EasyCalc. It did everything I needed, and the iPhone calculator is as basic as you can get.

And really, the only other thing I miss are ebooks. There are some things I used to do on a PDA (conversions, etc) that I can do just as easily through the web with Safari. And speaking of the web, this is really the shining point of the iPhone, which helps offset some of the things it lacks compared to the PalmOS world. Email on the Clie was painful, and email on the iPhone is great.

So, from a PDA perspective, there are definitely some things that are worse, but the things that are better more than make up for them, in my opinion. But, everyone has different usage patterns, so YMMV. I personally love having a converged device, so I'm carrying one thing around as opposed to 3. Before, I wouldn't always carry all 3, and there were plenty of times I wanted music, wanted a PDA, or wanted a camera and didn't have it with me at the time.

[LupeValenz]

Hey hey there, sounds great :) Can't wait to get the iPod touch but was wondering about the calendar, is it pretty basic? Can you leave notes for your appointments? I'm mostly thinking about using it as a journal of course with the multimedia of the iPod, also does Gmail work fine in safari? I want to use this for my all in one entertainment device for music, movies, tv shows (can't wait to have house in portable format with big screen ^_^), podcast and audible books :)

[MleB]

Can't help but feel that another big problem with the Touch (and, by extension, the iPhone) is the reliance on doing many tasks via the net, rather than with onboard software. This means that one needs ready access to a wi-fi connection (and/or the unlimited data plan that AT&T provides the user of the iPhone) and a pretty good knowledge of where to find these (essentially) Web 2.0 websites for programs that replace what's available for other handhelds. Programs that may be freeware from other providers and available to install directly on Palm, WinMob and Symbian.

Pre-installed and 3rd Party software for the Touch / iPhone is intentionally thin on the ground, thanks to Apple - while I most certainly would resent icons popping up unbidden on my home screen as 'approved' software is created and sites come within range - like the announced Starbucks link.

As for waiting for these devices to give access to multimedia (eBooks, audible books, music, podcasts, TV shows, etc) that are not available thru iTunes (and at an additional profit to Apple), I think users may be waiting a long time....

[intellidryad]

The iPhone (and the iPod touch) has a decent alarm clock that I've used on a daily basis, a speaker to play music, and a very nice contacts app. ...

I pointed this out because engadget pointed that the speaker present on the iPhone is missing on the iPod touch.

Congrats on you enjoying your iPhone. I tried one at an Apple store, and still found my self liking PalmOS over it. But the real thing that pissed me off in my little test is how slow AT&T's EDGE network is :D

[rldunn]

Hey hey there, sounds great :) Can't wait to get the iPod touch but was wondering about the calendar, is it pretty basic? Can you leave notes for your appointments? I'm mostly thinking about using it as a journal of course with the multimedia of the iPod, also does Gmail work fine in safari? I want to use this for my all in one entertainment device for music, movies, tv shows (can't wait to have house in portable format with big screen ^_^), podcast and audible books :)The calendar is somewhat basic, but not completely. It still has 3 views (agenda, Day, and Month). You can have an appt repeat for a limited period of time, which is useful for conferences, but if you had a meeting that was every weekday, you would either have to set it up to repeat every day and ignore the weekend versions or set up 5 weekly appointments, which would be somewhat of a pain without cut and paste. It does have a notes field, which I like to use, and it allows 2 alarms per appointment. So, not great, but not bad.

On the iPhone, you would just use Gmail through the Mail app, so not sure how it works in Safari. Someone on iLounge asked a question about Gmail and Google Maps on Safari. I tested the Google Maps portion, and on the iphone, you can pull up the main Google Maps website and put in an address, but as soon as you hit the OK button, it actually opens up the Google Maps app and displays the location for you with that :) So, not sure how well this will work with the Touch.

[rldunn]

I pointed this out because engadget pointed that the speaker present on the iPhone is missing on the iPod touch.

Congrats on you enjoying your iPhone. I tried one at an Apple store, and still found my self liking PalmOS over it. But the real thing that pissed me off in my little test is how slow AT&T's EDGE network is :DOh OK. I hadn't heard that the speaker wouldn't be on the Touch. That's too bad, actually, since it's quite useful.

I can understand the sentiments about the EDGE network, especially as someone new to AT&T/Cingular. In some locations, the EDGE speed is great, and loads pages fairly close to as fast as Wifi, but in others, it's a total dog. I definitely wish it was faster and more consistent.

And, I can definitely understand still preferring Palm OS. There are things I miss about it, as I mentioned, and for people with certain usage patterns, it will be hard to live without.

[rldunn]

ilounge.com just reported that the Touch likely won't be able to add calendar entries on the device itself. If that turns out to be true, then it would obviously be a horrible PDA-replacement.

[HzR]

It could be a great media centered PDA, but I just read that it doesn't have the Google maps app either.
No maps, no mail, not possible to add events to the calender, no direct podcast downloads to the device, I think Apple is really missing something here... :confused:

[MleB]

Like I said in an earlier post -

"...Touch is really meant to be a way to bypass the need to have a computer to download (that is, buy) from iTunes. That's it...."

The more we hear about it, the less it can do.

At the risk of being accused of baiting Apple'ites (its just so easy) - tcch! Typical Apple.

;)

[_Em]

As sold by Apple, the iTouch appears to be a consume-only device (can't generate your own content using it). However, since it runs the same flavour of OS X as the iPhone, my guess is it won't be long until you see all the BSDland software ported to it. So, while you won't have iChat, iPhoto, iCal, Address Book and Mail running on it, you will be able to use Pidgin, GIMP, KOffice and Thunderbird. For that matter, it should be able to run the entire KDE or GNOME environment, assuming someone patches X-Windows to run correctly on this device.

Of course, the lack of expandable storage is a big downer; HCSD support would have been great. Same with bluetooth.

[alsa]

rldunn, good to see you on these forums again! I remember you from back in the day! (When we were all excited about the rotating Clies (NRs, I think -- summer of 2002). It seems like an eternity ago in this digital age.


Secondly, as you know I stated in the beginning of this thread that I was leaving Palm OS behind and getting the iPod Touch. Well, I changed my mind -- for now at least.

After reading stuff online about the limitations of the iPhone (and even more limitations in the user experience of the iPod Touch), I decided to wait until the next version of the iPhone/iPod Touch comes out or until we see applications from third-parties available.

It seems I am not the only one -- Julie from gadgeteer.com (a very good site I have been reading for years) has similar thoughts and she has gone back to using her Treo after playing with the iPhone for a while.

In the meantime, I just bought the TX on sale for 215 and an SD card for 2GB for 18 dollars. I think it's a steal. Transferring everything from the UX which I had used as my main PDA for 2 years was a breeze, and all of the applications I use are still there. I am also happy to be back on a larger screen (the UX screen was starting to bother me -- it is indeed small, though the same resolution).

The TX will do until I see any significant changes in the current iPhone situation.

[LanMan]

Welcome back from your brief flirtation with the Rainbow Side! ;)

[JAmerican]

I actually want to go to a Palm OS that multitasks and is stable. That would be my dream OS. I'd love to have a TX phone as well. It would be perfect!

JAmerican

[sgosnell]

DRM will forever prevent me from buying anything from Apple. I refuse to use iTunes for anything as long as DRM is in the content. I don't care what the device does or doesn't do, if DRM is involved, I won't buy it.

[MleB]

I actually want to go to a Palm OS that multitasks and is stable. That would be my dream OS. I'd love to have a TX phone as well. It would be perfect!

JAmerican

Actually, I have no major complaints with the PalmOS - and I'd like it even better if Palm's answer to 'improving it' wasn't to remove functionality and software with each new device - and making it less usable and stable in the process.
Multitasking would certainly be nice (I'm thinking some sort of tabbed method of switching between 'open' programs) while a TX phone would certainly have me dump my 680 like a shot. That size and quality of screen, significantly larger onboard memory - toss in a user-replaceable battery. The iPhone has shown a virtual keyboard can work (at least, for short burst of typing like as used on a thumboard), so toss that in.

There are still times when I swap out my SIM from my 680 to a 'real' cell phone and take the TX along to get stuff done on the OS - be that using Docs2Go, use wi-fi or, on longer journeys, watch a flick in widescreen.

A TX phone (properly imagined, designed and built) would be it.

[sgosnell]

I've stayed with my T3, except for a flirtation with a Lifedrive, which died. The T3 is stable, fast, and does everything I want except for wifi, and I can live without that. A T3 with wifi and a bigger battery would be all I would want. NVFS isn't ready for prime time, IMO.

[_Em]

I have a TX; the iTouch is interesting to me, but the lack of bluetooth and removeable storage keep scaring me off.

With regards to software: the third party developer kit is growing continually; there will soon be quite a large offering as everything for OS X/Linux gets ported over and new software is written. Software won't be an issue for long.

With regards to the DRM post: Apple sells 256kbit AAC audio with no DRM through iTS; however, I use iTunes with my TX and have zero DRMed files; I burn from CD, download from other sites that sell unencumbered MP3s, and record off internet radio.

I bet someone could even port POSE to the iTouch; then all the PalmOS 4 software would work just fine on it.